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ETF Insider: Signs Of Recovery

Stocks markets finished the week in bright green territory as investors rejoiced over encouraging developments in the Euro zone along with positive earnings surprises on the home front. The tug of war between the bulls and the bears continues however as quarterly performance results from industry giants were mixed across the board; Google and Citigroup both missed the mark, while Bank of America, IBM, and Intel surpassed analyst estimates. Better-than-expected jobless claims helped restore confidence and growing optimism in the economic recovery tipped markets higher throughout the week as bullish pressures prevailed.

Our picks from Monday’s Insider posted a mixed performance this past week, with two of our recommendations turning in minor losses, while our third position soared higher. Below, we highlight how our trade ideas fared during the week [sign up for a free trial of ETFdb Pro to get actionable ETF ideas every Monday, as well as access to more than 35 all-ETF model portfolios].

Trade #1 Short RTH: Down 0.5%

This short recommendation was purely technical, seeing as how RTH had been floating near resistance levels all throughout the previous week. Our bearish suspicions however turned out to be incorrect as fundamentals prevailed; RTH rallied alongside broad equity markets thanks to overwhelming earnings euphoria and better-than-expected data releases on Wednesday. We stuck to our rules and sold RTH when it broke above $115 a share. Although we ended up with a small loss on the week, our technical analysis saved us from incurring a more devastating penalty had we held onto this ETF.

Trade #2 Long JXI: Down 0.1%

This ETF got off to a weak start as a growing risk-appetite amongst investors created headwinds for relatively “safer” corners of the market, including the utilities sector. JXI was able to regain its footing on Tuesday and even charge higher, climbing all the way up to $41.31 a share. Bullish momentum quickly evaporated however and this ETF came back down in the last two trading days, posting a minor loss in an otherwise positive week for equity markets.

Trade #3 Long RWX : Up 3.7%

This ETF got off to a strong start and extended gains into Tuesday, backed by relatively high trading volume, paving the way higher for the rest of the week. Our bullish suspicious proved correct as RWX was able to climb higher for the remainder of the week, finishing below our price target at $34.44 a share on Friday afternoon. This long recommendation was spot on and RWX clinched a solid 3.7% gain on the week.

ETFdb Portfolios

Retirement ETFdb Portfolios

Better-than-expected earnings helped push stocks higher throughout the week, paving the way for our equity-heavy retirement portfolios. Not surprisingly our Aggressive portfolio came out on top, with the 30 Years Til Retirement trailing closely behind. Given the increasing risk appetite amongst invsetors, our Low Volatility portfolios turned in the worst performance for the week.

Bullish fever permeated all corners of the globe and our regional portfolios appreciated across the board. Our Emerging & Frontier Markets portfolio led the way higher while our Ex-Europe portfolio lagged behind because it missed out on juicy returns from the debt burdened currency bloc.

Earnings stole the spotlight on Wall Street and the tech sector ran wild with excitement as several industry bellwethers, including IBM and Microsoft, surpassed analyst expectations. Likewise, our High Tech portfolio came out on top, while our 2012 portfolio came in second place thanks to its equity-heavy composition [see All Portfolio Returns].

The exchange-traded universe continues to evolve as several issuers filed plans with the SEC for new products and several new fund hit the street this past week. Check out our ETF Launch Center for complete updates on all new ETFs.

State Street launched their new S&P Small Cap Emerging Asia Pacific ETF, GMFS, which is designed to focus exclusively on small cap stocks in Asia Pacific economies. The fund maintains a deep and well-balanced portfolio of almost 500 individual holdings with no one name making up more than 0.8% of total assets.

Invesco PowerShares introduced its new S&P International Developed Low Volatility Portfolio, IDLV, which is designed to measure the performance of 200 of the least volatile stocks from an index of developed market securities. The selected stocks come from the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.